2007-05-23 15:27:45 PDT -- State Sen. Carole Migden, whom the CHP now says may have been involved in as many as three traffic accidents last Friday, today revealed publicly for the first time that she has been battling leukemia for the past decade and that medication she takes may have caused her to become disoriented while driving.

"My only explanation is that it is medically related in some way," Migden, 56, said in an interview with The Chronicle.

The Democratic lawmaker who represents San Francisco and Marin County said she plans to underdo neurological tests to try to determine what may have happened.

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"I owe an explanation to the public and myself, and in particular the person I hurt," she said, referring to the driver of a Honda sedan that was slightly injured in a rear-end collision. "I don't have a recollection of what happened. I can only conclude I had a medical event I can't explain. It's not an excuse; it may be an explanation."

Migden, who provided records of her medical history during an interview at her apartment in San Francisco, said she was diagnosed with leukemia in 1997 and given a life expectancy of three to five years by her doctors at UCSF.

After she was first diagnosed she tried unsuccessfully to find a match for a bone marrow transplant and then underwent different therapies to fight the disease. She has been on chemotherapy pills since 2000 and in February her doctors told her she was disease free.

She chose not to make her medical condition public.

"I didn't want to be pitied. I didn't want to be seen as a goner. I believed I would live. I never lied I just chose not to disclose," Migden said.

Migden rear-ended a motorist near Fairfield on Friday, slightly injuring the driver of a Honda sedan and shaking up the driver's daughter, who was secured in a child safety seat. Migden, who was driving her state leased Toyota SUV collided with the car as it was slowing to stop at the intersection of Highway 12 and Beck Avenue.

Migden told CHP officers that she had gotten lost while driving to Marin County for a noon meeting when the accident occurred. Migden's office released a statement that day saying her cell phone rang and in reaching for the phone she took her eyes off the road.

After reviewing 911 tapes from motorists reporting an erratic driver in the area Friday, the CHP this week said it is investigating whether Migden was involved in two other accidents.

One motorist reported that he saw the San Francisco Democrat driving erratically and strike a guardrail on Highway 80 near the Highway 37 exit in Vallejo on Friday. The CHP says it has another report of Migden possibly striking the center divide near Emeryville.

CHP Officer Marvin Williford said the CHP had "five or six credible witnesses" who saw Migden's accidents and called 911. Adrian Romo, a witness to the rear-ender, told KTVU News that Migden screamed to the driver of the vehicle she hit that she was a senator.

"I said, 'Fine, let's just see if this is OK,' " Romo told the television station. "She didn't seem all there." Another witness said he saw who he now believes was Migden traveling east on Highway 80 at least 80 mph, reading and talking on the phone while driving.

Migden was given a breathalyzer test after the accident and passed.

Migden said her accident Friday left her shaken and that she had not experienced the same type of disorientation before. "I don't remember doing what the people said on the 911 tapes. That's very frightening to me," she said.

Last year, Migden voted for a bill that starting July 1 will require drivers using cell phones to use hands-free devices.

It's unclear how Migden's announcement will affect her re-election race against San Francisco Assemblyman Mark Leno, who has made the unusual move of challenging an incumbent from his own party.

Migden and Leno are two of San Francisco's best-known gay and lesbian officeholders, and the June 2008 primary face-off between the two lawmakers has already split the Bay Area's Democratic faithful.